Beirut (AFP) - Two enormous explosions rocked the Lebanese capital's port on Tuesday, killing and wounding dozens of people, shaking buildings and sending huge plumes of smoke billowing into the Beirut sky.
Video footage of the second blast showed an enormous orange fireball that dwarfed nearby buildings and sent a devastating tornado-like shockwave ripping through the city.
"We heard an explosion, then we saw the mushroom," said one resident who witnessed the second, deafening explosion from her balcony in the city's Mansourieh district.
"The force of the blast threw us backwards into the apartment," she said.
Lebanese media carried images of people trapped under rubble, many bloodied, after the massive blasts, the cause of which was not immediately known.
A soldier at the port, who asked not to be named, told AFP: "It's a catastrophe inside. There are corpses on the ground. Ambulances are still lifting the dead."
The official National News Agency confirmed deaths in the blast, without citing a number.
The explosions "caused dozens of injuries," a security source said.
The AFP correspondent said every shop in the Hamra commercial district had sustained damage, with entire storefronts destroyed, windows shattered and many cars wrecked.
Injured people were walking in the street, while outside the Clemenceau Medical Centre, dozens of wounded people, many covered in blood, were rushing to be admitted to the centre, including children.
Destroyed cars had been abandoned in the street with their airbags inflated.
A huge cloud of black smoke was engulfing the entire port area, as helicopters flew to dump water on the burning buildings.
The port zone was cordoned off by the security forces, allowing access only to a string of ambulances, fire trucks and people whose relatives were working inside the devastated area, while others were screaming to be let through. (Story continues)
